1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of equipment used for intravascular medical procedures, such as guide wires, stents, angioplasty balloons, drilling burrs, and the catheters that are used to convey some of these.
2. Background Art
In the field of interventional cardiology, catheters and other tubular instruments are often run into a blood vessel by being threaded over a guide wire that has been placed into the blood vessel. So, it is often necessary to thread a very small diameter guide wire into the open end of a very small tubular instrument. The guide wires are usually about 0.014 inches in diameter, and the tubular instruments into which they are threaded can have diameters ranging from about 2 to 4 French. Catheters are often used to convey and operate various other types of instruments, such as balloons, stents, burrs, or radioactive segments. Many of these are also tubular in shape, and guide wires are often threaded through them. Because of the small diameters of the catheters, these other instruments, and the guide wires, it is very difficult to see and manipulate these members well enough to thread the guide wire into the tubular instrument very quickly. The speed and efficiency of every movement are important in interventional cardiology and other disciplines, as the blood flow in the blood vessel being used is often compromised.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a device, and a method for its use, which will quickly and efficiently thread a very small diameter guide wire into a very small diameter tubular instrument, such as a catheter. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a device for threading a guide wire into a tubular instrument that can be conveniently secured in place to an operating field.